Metallic building structure.



L. H. WHITTHEDGE.

METALLIC BUILDING SIRUCIURE.

APPLICATION FILED IULY 7.19M.

Patented Mar. 4,1919.

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manna nmnnvo smocrm tallic sheathing which resemble in a pearance lapped wooden sheathing, that 1s, the sheathing on wooden buildings formed by overlapping sheets of siding, metallic sheathing of this character being known commencially as weatherboard siding. However, it has been found that sheets of material corrugated to resemble lapped wooden sheathing have been difiicult to secure tother or to the corner posts of a building, fiiis being due to the irregular contour of thesheathing. Moreover, it is desirable to form the side walls of metallic buildings of a plurality of sections interfitted together so that the sections may be made of standard size and shape and be employed in constructing buildings of various sizes and designs. While certain methods of securing together such sections of metallic siding-have been proposed they have been unsatisfactory and have not been commercially practicable. For example, it has been proposed to flatten the ends of the sections of weatherboard siding so that the flattened ends may be Secured together in overlapped relationship. However, this methed of attaching the ends of the sections together involves bolts or -other fastening means which pass through the wall and are exposed on the exterior. Moreover, when the ends are flattened the corrugations adjacent the ends are deformed so as to make an unsightly appearance and so as to make it apparent that the siding is of metal and not of lapped clapboards.

It is the object of the present invention to provide sections of metallic weatherboard siding having portions at the ends so formed that adjacent sections may be readily and substantially secured together tobuild 11 side, end or other walls of a metallic building and to so arrange the end porti0ns that the adjacent portions of the corrugatlons are not deformed but extend Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 7, 1917. Serial No. 179,229.

Patented Mar. 4, 1919.

unmodified entirely up to the end portions, thereby to afford not only a stronger construction but also a much more attractive appearance, the external appearance being precisely like that of a clapboard building. Another object is to provide improved means for securing the wall sections together, whether they be plain or of the weatherboard type. Other objects of the invention are to provide a structure which is stiif and rigid, yet light in weight and requiring a minimum of material, which has tight and substantially moisture proof joints, which is substantially durable in construction, which may be easily and quickly assembled by unskilled labor, and which has a minimum number of fastening devices all of which are located on .the interior of the building where the are unexposed to the weather, thus afl'or ing a plain and attractive exterior appearance.

Still further objects of the invention will be aplparent from the following description and t e accompanying drawings in which,-

Figure 1 is a cross section of one means of securing the ends of two juxtaposed sections of siding together;

Fig. 2 is a cross section of similar means for securing two adjacent sides of a building together;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of portions of two sections of metallic sheathing which are corrugated to simulate lapped wooden siding and which are provided with means according to the present invention for securing juxtaposed sections together;

Fig. 4 is a cross section of two superposed sections of siding taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

ig. 5 is a cross section of a modified means for securing together the juxtaposed ends of the sections of siding; and

Fig. 6 is a still further modification of means for connecting together the ends of juxtaposed sections of the siding.

lo the present invention is applicable to'metallic building structures vmade up of sections of siding which are flat, that is, which are composed of flat sheets of material, it is particularly adapted to metallic building structures formed of sections of sidlng which are irregular in contour, as for example, sections which are corrugated to simulate lapped wooden siding. One phase of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 as applied to sections of siding of the latter type, namely, of the overlapped wooden siding type. These sections preferably have a cross sectional outline as illustrated in Fi 4, these sections comprising a series of L-shaped corrugations, each L- shaped corrugation being intended to simulate a wooden board in external appearance.

In order to secure a plurality of these sections together along their horizontal edges, I preferably provide means as illustrated in Figs.'3 and 4. At the lower edge of each section, for example, the lower edge of the upper section 1 in Figs. 3 and 4, an upturned flange 2 is provided at the rear of the horizontal portion of the lower L shaped corrugation 4. Each section is also provided with a forward fold along its uper edge adapted to fit over the upturned ange of the section disposed thereabove. For example, the section 6 in Figs. 3 and 4 is provided with a forward fold 7 fitting over the upturned flange 2 on the next upper section 1, the fold 7 being disposed at the top of the up er corrugation 8 of the s ction 6 so that w together in the manner illustrated the exterior appearance of the wall is that of a continuous piece of corrugated material.

Itis not only desirable to build sections together vertically in the manner described, but it is also desirable to build the sections together longitudinally of the building. In order to connect the vertical ends of the sections together as well as to connect them to the corner posts of the building, the present invention involves the following mechanism: At the ends of the sections, sections 1 and 6 shown in Fig. 3 for example, are provided flanges 9, 11, 13 and 15. These flanges are preferably formed as integral parts of the sections of siding and instead of being corrugated they are preferably made regular in contour and as illustrated in the drawings they are preferably made flat, these flanges preferably .being formed after the corrugations are stamped into the sheet of siding. In securing the sections together end to end the flanges 9, 11, etc., which preferably extend laterally from the sheets of siding in planes erpendicular to the planes of the sec: tions 0 siding are placed in juxtaposition and where the flanges extend laterally in persendicular relationship to the sheets the are isposed in parallelism as illustrated in igs. 1, 5 and 6. a

The preferred means for securing together the juxtaposed flanges of adjacent sections is illustrated in Fig. 1 and is comprised as follows: The flanges 16 and 17 of the adja-. cent side sections 18 and 19 extend outwardly from the side sections in arallelism and in spaced relationship. A c ip is provided to secure these flanges together the clip comprisin a central web 21 and lateral portions 22 an 28 overlapping the flanges 16 and 17 of the adjacent side sections. The web 21 en the parts are secured is preferably extended beyond the inner sur face of the wall formed by the side sections 18 and 19 where it is securely fixed with relas.

tion to the side sections. The preferred means for securing the web in position comprises angle irons 24 and 26 fitting into the angles between the .web 21 and the sections 18 and 19 and a bolt 27 or other suitable means passing through the angle irons and web. The preferred method of providing the lateral portions 22 and 23 on the outer end'of the web 21 comprises folding a sheet of material as indicated in Fig. 1. This is preferably accomplished by bending the material outwardly at 28 through 180, then folding the sheet in the opposite direction through 180 at 29, then bending the sheet around the fold 28 through 180 so that the end 23 of the sheet is disposed in parallelism to the Web 21.

For securing the sections together along their vertical edges the clip is preferably formed in the above described manner at the factory by means of suitable folding machincry and in assembling the structure the clip is applied from the outside, web 21 being inserted from the outside of the building between the juxtaposed flanges of adjacent sections until the lateral portions 22 and 23 are fitted over the flanges 16 and 17 as shown in Fig. 1. The angle irons 24 and 26 are then applied and the parts secured together by means of bolts 2 By virtue of this arrangement it will be apparent that bolts employed for securing the sections together are located on the inside of the building; By virtue of the unique shape of the clip the flanges on the side wall sections are completely inclosecl and thereby effectively protected from the weather. The unique shape of the clips also aifords a smooth and attractive appearance to the exterior of the building.

In applying the above described invention to the corners of a building structure the corner postsmay be shaped as illustrated in Fig; 2. The main portion of the corner post 31 is of square cross section in accordance with standard practice but the vertical edges of the corner posts are folded so as to fit around the flanges 32 corner posts about the flanges the folds may be arranged in a variety of ways'two of which are illustrated in Fig. 2. The folds around the flan e 32 com rise a 180 fold 37 fitting outsi e of the ange, and a 180 bend 38 around 90 bend 39 around the base of the flange so that the end 41 of the corner post lies along the inside of the first side section 34 of the adjacent side wall. The connection of the corner post to flange 33 of section 36 comprises a 90 bend 42 around the end of the flange, a 180 fold 43 outside the flange,

and 33 of the sidc' walls 34'and 36 respectively. In folding the all of the i III the end of the flange and a a 180 bend 44 over the end of the flange and a straight .web section 46 extending inwardly beyond the plane of the wall 36 to which an angle iron 47 may be secured as described in connection with Fig. 1.

The modified connection between the two edges of adjacent side sections shown in Fig. 5 1s similar to that shown in Fig. 1 in that it com rises flat flanges 51 and 52 extending lateral y from the adjacent side sections 53 and 54 in juxtaposition. However, the means for connecting the flanges 51 and 52 together differs from that shown in Fig. 1 in that the clip 56 is of simple U-shaped cross section so as snu ly to fit over the flanges, a bolt 57 or ot er suitable means being provided to secure the parts together. The exterior appearance of a joint of this character ives the effect merely of a crack in the walf The modified means for connecting the vertical edges of the sections together as illustrated in Fig. 6 comprises bolts 61 passing directly through the flanges 62 and 63 extending inwardl from the side wall section 64 and 66. n both of the modified embodiments shown in Figs. 5 and 6 the flanges on the side sections preferably extend inwardly so that the fastening means comprising bolts 57 and 61 are disposed inside of the building, whereas in the construction illustrated in Fig. 1 the flanges on the side sections preferably extend outwardly so that the connecting bolts 27 ma be disposed inside of the building. While the fastening means in Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 have been illustrated in combination with flat side wall sections, it is to be understood that they are equally applicable to corrugated side wall sections such as illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. It is also to be understood that the term wall section is herein em loyed in its generic sense and is intended Iii) include not only the side and end walls of a buildin but also the roof walls, interior walls an indeed any of the walls of a building. Moreover, the words inwardly, outwardly and the like are employed merely in a relative sense to distinguish between opposite directions and are not employed in the abso lute sense although in the preferred application of the invention they are also applicable with reference to the inside and outside of a building.

I claim:

1. Ina metallic buildin structure, a wall section comprising a s eet of material crim ed longitudinally to form recurrent longitudinal portions approximately perpendicular to the plane of the sheet and ent transversely at the ends to form transverse portions substantially erpendicular to the plane of the sheet, sai

longitudinal portions extending continuously and substantiall unmodi ed to the transverse portions, w ereby the wall section is stiffened throughout its entire length and width against bending transverse portions plane of the sheet.

2. In a metallic building structure, a wall section comprisin a sheet of material having a series of L-s aped steps crimped therein so as to simulate lapped wooden sheathing, the bases of said steps being approximately perpendicular to the plane of the sheet, and a flat integral flan e extending laterally from the end of said sheet ina plane substantially perpendicular to the lane of the sheet and to the planes of said ases, said L-sha ed steps extendin continuously and substantially unmodi ed to said flange.

3. In a metallic building structure, the combination of two wall sections disposed end to end and having flat flanges extending outwardly therefrom in parallelism, an elongate clip for securing the sections together, the cli having a central web extending inwar ly between the said flanges and having lateral portions extending inwardly along the outside faces of the flanges. and angle irons fitting between the inner end perpendicular to the ,,of the web and the inner sides of the wall "sections for holding the clip in position rela tively to the web sections.

4. In a metallic building structure, the combination of two wall sections disposed end to end and having flat flanges extending outwardly therefrom in parallelism and an elongate clip for sqcuring the sections together. the clip having a central web extending between the said flanges and being folded first over one flange and then over the other flange.

5. In a metallic building structure. the combination of two wall sections disposed end to end and having flat flanges extending outwardly therefrom in parallelism and an elongate clip for securing the sections together, the clip comprising a sheet of material extending outwardly between the flanges, then folding over one flange. then folding backwardly over both flanges.

6. In a metallic building structure, the combination of a wall section having an outturned flan corner post avin a portion disposed along the outer .face 0 said flange. said portion bein folded over said flange through an ang e of 180 and then being bent over the edge of the flange through 90.

Si ed b me at Boston, Massachusetts. this fi fteenth day of June, 1917.

.L. H. WHIT'TREDGE.

by the longitudinal and at the end thereof. and a 

